Daily Home Renovation Tips

We have not written previously about the specific appliances in our remodeled kitchen, so I thought I would write today about my personal favourite, our Bosch Built-In Dishwasher.

We had never had a built-in dishwasher in any of our previously homes. What is a built-in dishwasher?

Well, the following picture shows the area of our remodeled kitchen containing the main double sink. Now, where is the dishwasher? Even our dog, Sandy, cannot find it. 

There it is. 

A built-in dishwasher is simply one that has a kitchen cabinet door on the outside rather than one than one which comes with the dishwasher.

Now, I have to admit this was Cath’s idea, not mine. However, I have to attest that I really like the look of not seeing the dishwasher. Which is a good thing as one tends to not change dishwashers very often.

Now, my main concern for our new dishwasher was functional; that is, it had to be quiet. Why? Well the kitchen, kitchen eating area and family room are in an ‘open concept’. So the location of the dishwasher is actually right next to the family room and in particular 4 feet away from the couch that I tend to sit on when I am watching my Notre Dame Fighting Irish play football … OK, OK … and other stuff on TV.

Now, we were shown two brands by the store where we purchased the dishwasher. We chose the Bosch Model SHV46C. Why? Quite frankly it came down to price, reliability, reputation and noise level.

On price, it was several hundred dollars less expensive than an international brand with a reputation for being the most quiet. According to the sales associate at the store, the Bosch model was rated slightly less quiet than the other brand, not justifying the significantly higher price tag.

The store we were at was a local store recommended by our kitchen designer so there was already a level of trust when they told us this. They had both brands in their show room.

Having now had this dishwasher for a year now, I have to admit that I think we made the right choice. We can watch TV with the dishwasher on with no problems. And we can have company over, like we did with Harvey and Janet a few weekends ago, and put the dishwasher on after dinner while still entertaining them and their pet Boxer dog, Toby, in the family room without having to raise our voices to talk.

How does it clean? Very nicely. We rarely have to put on the Regular cycle to get the dishes clean; rather we use the Delicate / Economy cycle which takes less time and less energy.

If I had one suggestion it would be to have more ’spikes’ in the top rack as we tend to go through lots of coffee mugs and beverage classes which exceeds  the spikes on the upper rack. But, that could just be us.

Lastly, to me any kitchen appliance is simply a commodity. Once you know exactly which brand and model you want, then shop, shop and shop to get the lowest price, including of course free delivery where ever possible. Also be sure you are made aware of and receive any and all manufacturer rebates that you shoudl be receiving. I found the AJ Madison site for US based consumers even has a page called their Rebate Center specific to appliance rebates. That is also where Internet shopping can come into play.

It’s your money after all, right? Appliances are just commodities where you can get the same specific brand and model from more retailers than you can count. Buy it from a bricks and mortar specialty or department store, or buy it from a reputable Internet store (who usually can save you money since they don’t have to pay for roofs, walls, salesmen and so on). Just a thought.